Customer Reviews

Freestyle - The Art of Rhyme

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought this documentary was alright. It wasnt really mindblowing and at times got to be really slow. For people who have never seen some one freestyle or have only seen eight mile, then this is a movie to watch. But for me this movie could have been made alot better. I thought there was too much footage of Supernat. It seems after 30 mins this becomes a doc on Supernat. Supernat is fresh but there are tons of mcs out there that kevin could have shown.

I think there was too much coverage on the east. The east is fresh but something that I would have rather seen is maybe interviews on the old school like KRS, Rakim, MC Shan, Nas or some other mcs known for being tested on the mic and servin. Mos def was cool but he was not impressive to me. The lyricist lounge mcs were not too impressive either. I also did not like that dude singing in the subway wtf is that about.

What I did like was the footage of Black Thought with Questlove rhymin about whatever is around him. I liked that acapella that peace did. PEACE is one of the best freestylers that I have ever seen and to only show that footage was disappointing. The bigge footage was good also. Seeing otherwize battle other mcs was also good to see. Ive seen otherwize take out many including eminem.

What i wanted to see was more of the west coast because from my knowledge Freestyle Fellowship were some of the best mcs to ever come out. They changed the whole hip hop scene with their flows. The footage of the fellowship was cool but I have seen Micah 9 come off way better than he did on that film. I also know that Kevin has footage from the goodlife days and project blowed. I dont know why footage was not used but seeing fellowship back in da days was just amazing and I wished that was shared within the film. I would have also wanted to hear about more battling not just supernat vs juice but others. Why wasnt the hobo vs hiero battle put up on the site? That was one of the most talked about battles at that time. What about the Hiero vs Freestyle fellowship battle where hiero lost so Casual had to wear a fellowship shirt on their next video. What about Saafir or Del? These were some fresh MCs at their time. Or what about gift of gab, lateef, and lyrics born. These are mcs that are great.

The reason why I thought this movie could have been better was because Kevin knows about these mcs. He knows what these mcs have done for the art of mcing and also has footage of these mcs.

Overall i think people should buy this dvd because even though it could have been better you still can see a glimpse of what are truly great mcs which are Freestyle Fellowship, Pharoah Monch, Black Thought, Juice, and Supernat.

This is a really excellent film and it is no suprise to me that it has won so many awards are various film festivals. The film is about "freestyle." Freestyle is a form of rap music that comes from the top of the MC's head. A freestyle is not a written rap. The MC that "fronts" a written rap as a freestyle loses much respect. The film maker has amassed a great deal of archive and olf footage of hip-hop legends like Cool Herc and Run DMC to name a few. The film is really about the underground culture. Unless you are deep into underground hip-hop, you are not going to recognize a lot of the rappers in this film. I can't say enough about this film. It explores the various aspects of the freestyle art form--including "the battle." The battle is when the MC's go at it in a freestyle battle. They can say some really confrontational things, but it's all about the rhyme. Women rappers are also well represented in this film. Bahamadia appears in the film as does rapper Medusa. All hip-hop lovers should check out this film. Between the live performances and the interviews, you will know about the freestyle culture by the time you finish watching this film. It digs deep into the rawness of hip-hop and rhyme. No bling bling, video chicks and or Bently's, just cats freestyling.

I saw this film in Portland at the hip-hop film festival. It's really amazing. Some of the ftg is phenomenal: Biggie eating some kid alive in a street-corner cypher. Mos Def flowing from the dome for DAYS. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I heard through the grapevine that VH1 is going to be showing the film as well. These guys have busted their asses in true hip-hop/DIY style to get this film made and out to the public. It has been well worth the effort!

One of the things about this documentary, that separates it from any that I have seen, is that it acknowledges that Hip Hop is just another extention of the artistic expression of African people in the United States. This is best stated by Eluard Burt II in the first minutes of the documentary by saying "Rap is just a stem, a part of the branch, of what we are all about..." The Oral Tradition and the use of the word is a part of the historical legacy of African people. With the commericialization of the artform, far too many are learning the culture from corporations rather than from the culprits.

Hip Hop came from the streets. The record companies created rap. What this documentary does is goes back to the streets and finds those unknown artist who aren't doing this for money, but for the love. They capture some of the energy that has brought many people through the oppressive conditions of the inner cities of America. That is the purest expression that you can get.

Though the documentary focuses on freestyling, it also explains briefly how it all started with DJ Kool Herc. Any Hip Hop documentary that doesn't address Herc, is incomplete. Being a native New Yorker, I lived the birth of the artform and watched how the originators of the this multi billion dollar industry don't even get paid... attention.

There is no way you can do a documentary about freestyling without including Supernatural and Craig G. They were without question, two of the best freestylers of all time and could hold their own now (Graig G wrote the battle rhymes for Eminiem's opponents in 8 Mile). Their Battle is nothing short of monumental. That is the Ali vs Frazier of hip hop.

What I appreciate is that he goes from east coast to west coast and addresses how both coast contributed to each others growth. Something rarely mentioned. Unfortunately this has been tainted by the media's creation of the east west coast beef.

What I didn't expect was that it it bypasses the violence that is too often associated with Hip Hop. Because in all honesty, the glorification of violence is tied to "rap" and record sales. Not the culture of Hip Hop. What you hear in most of the freestyles is social commentary, intellectual wordplay, storytelling, braggadocia, etc... the basis of what hip hop use to be.

All in all, this is a great illustration of what hip hop was and still is, but is often unseen and unheard. If your addicted to radio, MTV, BET, ETC... just understand, this isn't about the polished studio artist. If your not, this may be just what you have been waiting for. Something Raw. 4.5 Stars

There are very few documentaries that compare to this one, and certainly one of the two (the other being 5 Sides of a Coin) that truley go indept into the art and purpose of this aspect in hip hop culture, remain visually and audio stimulating and keep all the excess jargon and rubbish out.

Interviews with some of Hip Hops most prolific and controversial members, both in mainstream and street/underground infamy show the more innocent, raw side of freestyling which is seldom seen. Moments such as interviews with supernatural, Otherwise and Craig G are examples of this.

I would probably suggest this for school teachers and parents who didnt get the chance to really grow up with hip hop or rap as such a pragmatic part of their lives and see where the roots of it come from, and to be able to distinguish the difference between freestyling in its truest form, and the commercial bullsh*it that comes out of corporate record labels.

Check the other doco i've listed for an overall view of hip hop as a culture, and not just simply a genre of music---> 5 Sides of a Coin

a household item for all real hiphop fans.it has covered all the elements of hiphop to the core.it's truelly a fantastic classic dvd for all hiphop heads.

This is a great DVD. A must for any true Hip-Hop lovers!

Most true lovers of hip-hop agree on some 'must have' albums for their collection to be considered complete (i.e. Illmatic, Ready 2 Die, Criminal Minded, The Cronic, Reasonable Doubt etc. etc.) The same holds true for this particular documentary--Freestyle-The Art of Rhyme. This movie does an amazing job explaining and depicting the at times neglected form of rap called freestyling--which many argue is the true measure of any true emcee. So if you are a real fan of hip-hop culture--you should definitely own at least one copy of this video. Remember--ain't nothin' like hip-hop music. Peace.
~A-jacks

It's my fault really...
I was hoping for a documentary on Lyricism + MC'ing.

THIS IS actually A DOCUMENTARY ON "FREESTYL'ing".

I wish I had read an informative review before purchasing this DVD!

<with the exception of K. Reynolds (VA United States) review, which was ON POINT>


The Bad :

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"i'm trying to go to the point where i'm stopping people from rapping;
they wanna change career fields, they wanna do other things
that's where i'm trying to go."

"some punk" - 08mins.01seconds
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How pretencious is that?

As a documentary, "freestyle" it is PRETTTY GOOD. Pretty..Pretty Good.
*insert larrydavid*

BUT there is only 10mins of worthy content.

um. where is :

- Del ???
- KRS ONE !?!?!?!?!
- RAKIM !?!?!?!?
- MosDef (an actual interview would be good)
- Common
- EMINEM
- Kool Keith
- DE LA FREAKIN SOUL???!?!!?
- TRIBE
- LAUREN HILL ???
- WYCLEF ????
- RED MAN
- METHOD MAN????
- A - N - Y FREAKIN B - O - D - Y

They could have spoken to DJ's about the art of FREESTYLE.

*sigh*

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The Good :


Random Commentary by LAST POETS = AMAZINGLY INFORMATIVE!

otherwize = PHAT! (8:14)
bahamadia = PHAT! (15:54)

!!! -- CHAPTER 5 - 360 Degrees = PHAAAAAAAT!
!!! -- <NuMark+CUTchemist>
!!! -- <mosDef+Kweli> + pharaohmonch

CHAPTER 6 - CYPHER
<kirby dominant + planet asia> (23:47 - 24:50)

!!!!! - CHAPTER 9 - HEALING

"..probably don't realise that hiphop was born as a need to get rid of (to excervise) the rage.." (42:10)

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please feel free to add to this...

THis video is called FREESTYLE. But the majority of the freestyle footage is sub par.

With a few obvious exceptions, most of the flows are boring. I think I was impressed by lyrical content once? the rest were obviously lyrics (a lot of freestylers try to sneak lyrics) or mediocre.

I wish there was more footage of goodlife cyphers. I wish there was more footage of Mos Def and Freestyle Fellowship. I wish the footage of Pharoh Monch was quality - rather than 30 seconds of audience footage at a random show.

Theres also commentary about the philosophy of freestyling. its unimpressive, cliche, obvious commentary.

theres a lot of time given to some beef between some freestylers at lyricist lounge. i cant even remember their names. one of the guy brags about memorizing the entire dictionary, but raps with a 4th graders active vocab. the other guy used prepared lyrics to beat the first guy in a freestyle battle. both had thick voices but boring flows.

i was so bored i turned it off after an hour(?). didnt see the biggie or tupac footage. some one gave me this DVD as a gift - so I might watch it later. but im in no big hurry.